Choices
by Demented Koneko
Summary: Ishida has been acting increasingly distant lately and Ichigo decides to confront him about it. The end result leaves Ishida struggling between what he believes are his duties and the things that make him happy. Ichigo/Ishida
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** My first Bleach fic. It's a bit AU as I originally started it before the time skip. Takes place in Ichigo's final year of high school.

**Chapter 1**

Kurosaki Ichigo yawned loudly, stretching his arms out as the bell for lunch rang. Thanks to those damned Hollows, he had only gotten a few hours sleep the night before. It didn't help that college entrance exams were coming up and he was already stuck studying late into the night for them.

"Late night, Kurosaki-kun?" his friend Mizuiro asked suddenly appearing beside his desk.

"Hey Ichigo, I bet you were up into all hours of the morning watching dirty movies weren't you?" his other friend Keigo added. "I'm totally right, aren't I!?"

"Don't put him in the same category as you, you idiot!" yelled his childhood friend Tatsuki as she whacked Keigo over the head with a large textbook.

"That hurt, damnit!" he whined, tears in his eyes.

"Unlike you, Ichigo is actually a good student. If anything he was up all night studying. Isn't that right, Ichigo?"

"Oh, uh yeah, that's right..." The orange haired boy diverted his eyes. He couldn't exactly say the real reason for his tiredness, but at the same time he didn't want people thinking he was losing sleep over watching porn either.

"Wow! Kurosaki-kun, you're so dedicated!" cried Orihime as she appeared next to Tatsuki. "That's amazing!"

"Hime-chan, you mustn't say that!" declared a loud voice. They all turned around to find the purple haired Honsho Chizuru standing there. "The one who is most dedicated and amazing of all is you! Not only do you have the brains, you have the beauty and delicacy of a darling angel! Oh Hime-chan, let me hold you in my arms!"

A second later, the same textbook that had hit Keigo was being slammed into Chizuru's face.

"Leave Orihime alone, you gigantic pervert!" shouted Tatsuki, the vein on her forehead looking as if it were about to burst.

Orihime on the other hand looked completely clueless, oblivious to her classmate's advances. Ichigo was pretty much convinced that if it weren't for Tatsuki the poor girl would have been molested long ago.

Used to their antics by now Ichigo turned away. It was then that he noticed his fellow Hollow slayer getting out of his seat.

"Hey Ishida!" he called out, catching the other teen's attention. "We're about to eat lunch. You should come join us.

The dark haired boy looked away. "I have things I need to do." he replied dully, and with that exited the classroom.

"I thought Ishida-kun seemed slightly happier when he started eating lunch with us, but lately it's as if he's reverted back to his old self." noted Mizuiro as they watched him leave.

"Who cares about him." groaned Keigo. "Ichigo has us, don't ya buddy?"

But Ichigo didn't reply, instead staring at the door where Ishida had just left.

"Um, Kurosaki-kun, do you...do you think that Ishida-kun is alright?" Orihime asked, whispering so that only he could hear her.

"I'm sure he's fine." he assured, not wanting to worry her. "By next week he'll probably be eating lunch with us again."

The red headed girl gave a small smile. "Yes. I'm sure you're right."

He hoped he was right too. Lately Ishida had been becoming increasingly distant from everyone. Like Mizuiro had said, it was as if he was becoming reminiscent of his old self, and Ichigo couldn't help but feel concerned.

Despite the differences they had, he still considered Ishida a friend. Even the likes of Mizuiro and Tatsuki had become friendly with him. For the friendships he had formed to just disappear would be such a horrible waste.

* * *

Ichigo wasn't a member of any after school clubs, however he knew that Ishida attended the handicraft club and so that day after school he decided to stick around so he could grab and hopefully get a chance to talk to him. But to his surprise Ishida wasn't there.

"Ishida-sempai hasn't attended for a couple of weeks now." he was told by one of the younger members sourly.

"We've been really worried about him!" cried one of the other members.

"Did he give a reason for not coming?" Ichigo asked, curiously.

One of the girls, a small brunette shook her head. "We trying asking him a few days why he hasn't been coming but he just said he was busy with things."

"I suppose Ishida-sempai could be studying." A taller dark haired girl reasoned.

"But that never stopped him before."

"This is his final year. Maybe he's dedicating all his time to studying for his college entrance exams."

Suddenly the smaller girl's eyes darkened. "Or maybe, just maybe, he has a girlfriend."

"What!? No way!"

"You there!" the brunette cried, pointing straight at him. "You're Ishida-sempai's friend, right!?"

"Uh, I guess..."

"Then does Ishida-sempai have a girlfriend or not!?"

"Please say he doesn't! I couldn't stand it if he did!"

Ichigo blinked. Ishida with a girlfriend? Now there was something he found difficult to picture. However he quickly stopped thinking about it when he saw the intensity in the eyes of the two girls currently glaring daggers at him.

"Uh, I-I don't think so."

Hearing his reponse, both girls let out loud sighs of relief.

"Well, if you see Ishida-sempai please tell him we're thinking of him." They both said sweetly, their demeanours completely changing.

Once Ichigo was out of the club room he let out his own sigh of relief. Those girls were terrifying.

He had completely forgotten that Ishida throughout his time in high school had acquired quite a number of 'fan girls'. Actually, he was positive that the Sewing club had never had quite so many members until Ishida joined. Not that Ichigo actually understood any of it.

The fact that Ishida was no longer showing up for club made Ichigo even more worried. From what he could tell, sewing was one of the things Ishida loved more than anything else and if he was no longer doing that...

Quickly Ichigo shook his head. No, he had to focus. Maybe it was some sort of Quincy thing. But if that was the case then why hadn't he said anything? Surely he knew by now that if he was in any kind of trouble, he, Chad, Inoue and no doubt Rukia too would do everything in their power to help?

Nonetheless, mere speculation would do nothing to answer any of his questions and so he decided that if he couldn't discuss things with Ishida at school, he'd just have to track him down at his apartment.

* * *

Ichigo had only been to Ishida's once before, so he was particularly thankful for his ability to sense spirit particles otherwise he had a feeling that he would have been wandering around searching for the place for hours on end.

Once he got there he rang the doorbell and took a step back, hoping desperately that the other teen was home. It would have sucked to come all this way for nothing after all.

A few moments later and the door opened revealing a slightly bewildered looking Ishida.

"Ku-Kurosaki, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was in the neighbourhood and I figured I'd stop by for a visit."

"Are Hollows attacking Karakura town? Is something wrong in Soul Society?" Ishida asked quickly, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

"What? No! Like I said, I just stopped by for a visit."

Ishida stared at him sceptically. "Why?"

Ichigo sighed. Sometimes dealing with Ishida could be exhausting. "Look, can I just come in?"

The other boy looked apprehensive for a moment before taking a step back allowing Ichigo enough space to enter.

Ichigo let out a whistle as Ishida led him to the living room. He had forgotten how huge Ishida's apartment was. Not to mention fancy.

Ishida gestured for him to take a seat on the couch while he sat on the chair across from him.

"So, Kurosaki, just exactly why are you here?" the dark haired boy asked, getting straight to the point.

From the lack of offering his guest any kind of refreshments he guessed that Ishida really didn't have many visitors. That or he just didn't want to waste any on him. That too was also possible.

"I just stopped by to make sure that everything's okay."

Ishida blinked. "Why?"

Inwardly Ichigo sighed. He really was no good at this sort of thing. "Look, you've just been acting really distant lately that's all and some people at school have been worried about you."

"I'm fine." Ishida replied bluntly. "Besides, don't they have more important things they should be worried about?"

"You know, it's pretty normal for people to worry about those they consider friends."

"Well they needn't waste their time. There's nothing wrong."

Ichigo bit his tongue. He was getting pretty irritated but he knew if he said the wrong thing and got into an argument, Ishida would end up closing up on him even more. Still, he wasn't going to back off that easily.

They sat in silence for awhile, neither of them making a move to say anything. It was awkward but Ichigo had been in tougher situations. He'd wait this out.

On the other hand, patience wasn't really one of his virtues and he soon found his eyes wandering when he spotted a booklet of some sorts lying on the coffee table.

"Hiromoto college of Fashion and Design." he read out loud as he picked it up. It seemed be some kind of brochure

"Ah! What the hell are you doing!?" the other boy demanded, panicked.

"Hey Ishida, what exactly is this?" Ichigo asked curiously, holding it up.

"Noth-Nothing. I um, just picked it up by mistake, that's all."

"Hmm." The orange haired boy looked down at it then back up to Ishida. "Are you thinking of going here when you graduate?"

"What? Of-Of course not!"

"Ah, I see." He placed it back down on the table and sat back. "What do you think you'll do after high school then?"

"I suppose I'll become a doctor." Ishida answered with a sigh.

"Wow, you sure don't sound too enthused about it."

"I'm not."

Ichigo gave him a confused look. "Then why do it then?"

"Because I don't-" he stopped suddenly. "Look it doesn't matter, okay?"

There was another short bout of silence. However this time Ishida was the one to break it. "What about you then? Just what exactly do you plan to do?"

"Me? I figured I'd just go to Med school. You know, take over the Clinic when my old man retires."

The bespectacled boy gave a bitter chuckle. "Well aren't you the dutiful son."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked, sitting up. "If I'm going to be taking over the family business, it's because I want to. It's got nothing to do with my old man. Besides, I'm not even sure if he wants me to take over the Clinic. It's not something I've discussed with him and I don't plan to either. It's my future after all."

It was then that Ichigo was hit by a sudden realisation.

"Hey, Ishida, the reason you're going to become a Doctor, it isn't because of your father is it?"

He really didn't know much about Ishida's father other than the fact that he was the Director of Karakura Hospital. That and he seemed to have a somewhat rocky relationship with his son.

Ishida's eyed widened for a moment. With a frown he quickly turned away. "That...That's none of your business!"

Ichigo hit his fist against his palm showing that he understood. "Ah, so what you really want to do is go to that Hiromoto School, but because your Dad wants you to become a Doctor."

"I told you, I picked up that brochure by mistake!" Ishida yelled, gripping at the fabric on his trousers.

"You don't just pick up random college brochures by mistake." Ichigo retorted, his voice growing stern. "If you really want to go to that place then you should."

"It's not that simple!" Ishida shouted as he stood up.

"Why? 'Cause your old man wants you to become a Doctor instead? If I recall, didn't he want you to give up being a Quincy too?"

"That...That's different!"

"Why?"

"Because unlike this, being a Quincy is something that you're born into, and to ignore that part of you heritage and the powers that comes with it would be disrespectful. Designing clothes and sewing on the other hand is... well, it's a hobby. Nothing more."

"Yeah but doesn't it make more sense to do something you enjoy? If you want to make clothes then you should."

Ishida's face reddened. "You...You're way too naive."

"Really?" Ichigo stood up and stretched his arms out. "Oh well, you can do whatever you want. I got what I came here for anyway."

"And what's that?" Ishida asked questioningly.

"The reason as to why you've been acting so strangely lately."

"Huh? What do you-"

"Well, it's pretty clear that it's got something to do with this fashion thing. You want to go to that Hiromoto place but don't want to disappoint your Dad and so you're stressing out."

"Wow, you're a real detective aren't you, Kurosaki?" Ishida snorted, rolling his eyes.

The orange haired boy gave a small grin in return. "Anyway, I better get home or Yuzu will chew me out for being late for dinner again."

Ishida followed him out and watched in the hallway as Ichigo put his shoes back on.

"You really should join us for lunch tomorrow." Ichigo encouraged as he picked up his school bag. "Just because you have this decision to make, doesn't mean you have to cut yourself off from everyone."

"I told you already, there's no decision to be made. I'm going to Med school and becoming a Doctor."

"If that's what you really want." And with that Ichigo left. "See you tomorrow at school!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Ishida stood there silently as he watched the substitute Shinigami leave. He couldn't help but let out an annoyed groan as he shut the door. Kurosaki truly was an idiot.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Thank you very much for reading. This was unbeta'd so apologies for any spelling errors or grammatical mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Uryuu stifled a yawn as he opened the door and entered the classroom. After a quick glance at the clock he let out a sigh of relief. It was one of those rare times were he had been running late having not slept well the night before. As he had trained himself to wake up at a certain time each morning he didn't bother setting an alarm. However, after an almost sleepless night he had found it almost impossible to drag himself out of bed that morning. He blamed Kurosaki and his unanticipated visit the day before.

He glanced over to the other side of the classroom where Kurosaki was sat surrounded by his usual group of friends. He didn't quite get it but somehow Kurosaki seemed to attract people; as if his bright orange hair was the some sort of beacon that drew people towards him. What was more was that it wasn't something he even tried to do. In the end, it was all natural.

He quickly turned away before anyone noticed him staring, and started to take his books out of his bag. He knew what Kurosaki had said the day before was ridiculous but when it came down to it, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

'Do what makes you happy'. Seriously, what kind of world did he think they lived in? As if things were ever that simple.

* * *

The morning went by at a relatively slow pace, so when the bell rang for lunch Uryuu let out a sigh of relief. Finally he could relax a little bit.

However this turned out to be nothing but wishful thinking on his part.

"Hey Ishida!"

He cringed as he heard that voice calling on him.

"What is it, Kurosaki?" he asked as politely as he could muster.

"We're about to eat lunch. You should join us."

"Um, I actually forgot to pack my bento today," Or rather he hadn't had the time to make one up. "So I'm just going to grab something from the school store." he answered, standing up to leave.

"Hmm." The orange haired boy looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh well, I guess I'll come with you then."

Uryuu's eyes widened. "Huh? But wh-"

"It's been awhile since I've eaten anything from the school store so I'll join you." He then turned to Tatsuki and Orihime. "Here, you guys can have this." Ichigo said, holding out his lunch.

Blinking, Tatsuki looked surprised. "Uh, thanks, I guess."

"Ku-Kurosaki-kun, is it really okay?" Orihime asked stammering as her cheeks reddened.

The boy shrugged. "Sure. No problem."

"Hime-chan, please take my lunch too!" cried Chizuru, randomly appearing out of nowhere. "I put all my heart and soul into making it!"

"Oh, th-thank you." replied Orihime looking slightly bewildered.

"Heart and soul my ass. Your Mum totally made it for you, didn't she?" Tatsuki muttered, earning an intense hate filled glare from the bespectacled girl.

"Ah! Ichigo!" a distressed Keigo yelled. "What about me and Mizuiro!? Don't we get any of your bento?!

"Actually the bento I have is more than enough to fill me up." Mizuiro chirped in with his usual smile.

"Traitor!" Keigo yelled at the smaller boy before turning back around. "Then what about me!?"

"Honestly? Well, I guess I just don't want to waste my lunch on you." Ichigo replied bluntly.

"Ah! Ichigo's being cruel to me, Mizuiro!" the boy wailed, his hands on his head.

"Now, now, Asano-san. Please calm down."

"Ah! Now you're being mean too!"

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Ishida's face as he watched them all.

"Should we go?" Ichigo asked, appearing beside him.

"Uh, sure..."

It had been awhile since either of them had gone to the school store and in that time both had forgotten about the massive rush and bustle of students trying to get their favourite type of bread or whatnot before they ran out. A bead of sweat ran down the side of their faces as they watched what almost appeared to be a fierce battle for survival. As such, it took awhile before either of them was served and what remained was what was referred to as 'leftovers' which was basically the crap that no one else wanted.

Ishida felt slightly annoyed. If Kurosaki had just let him go by himself in the first placed he could have gotten there sooner instead of having to watch him deal with his friends. However, he did take a slight pleasure in Kurosaki having given up his sister's no doubt yummy homemade bento for some stale old bread roll.

Deciding that they both needed some peace and quiet after witnessing the bizarre lunch ritual that many of students participated in each day, they went up to the roof. With winter drawing closer, there were no other students there, most, wisely choosing the warmth of their classrooms.

They leaned against the railing, neither saying anything as they ate their lunches. It was only when Ichigo had taken the last bite of his roll that he spoke.

"So, still planning on going to Med School?"

"Of course." The dark haired boy replied as he tossed the rest of his lunch into the rubbish bin, deciding that he really wasn't that hungry after all. "Why would I suddenly change my mind in the space of a night?"

"No reason." Ichigo answered, stretching his arms above his head. "Just wanted to make sure, that's all."

"You came with me to lunch just to ask that?" Ishida questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I actually wanted you to join us for lunch. But you had to go and make things difficult by forgetting yours." he said with a devious grin.

Ishida snorted, turning away.

"Why do you care so much anyway? Why should it matter to you whether I become a doctor or attend some stupid fashion school?"

"Cause you're my friend, and like I said before, friends worry about each other." Ichigo replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"We're not exactly 'friends'." Ishida retorted. "After all, I'm a Quincy and you're a Shinigami."

"Substitute-Shinigami." The other boy corrected. "And you know that I don't give a crap about any of that stuff. A friend's a friend and that's that. Plus you can't say that after everything we've gone through you don't care at least a little."

"..."

The bespectacled boy didn't reply but Ichigo knew from the look on his face that he agreed. The taller boy smiled to himself.

"Oh yeah, are you going to go back to the handicrafts club?"

"The handicrafts club? Why?" Ishida asked, turning back around.

"I kind of went there yesterday to look for you before going to your apartment. A couple of the members were asking about you, and while they were pretty damn terrifying, they did seem genuinely concerned."

Ichigo couldn't help but notice the slightly conflicted look on his friend's face as he waited for an answer. "I don't know... My studies... If I'm going to become a doctor then I should probably place all my focus on them."

"Hey, just because you've decided that you're going to become a doctor, doesn't mean you still can't have a little fun. After all, you said sewing and designing stuff was your hobby, right?"

"I suppose..."

"Then you should go."

"I like how you've taken it upon yourself to decide what I should and shouldn't do with my time." Ishida retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The other teen gave a small chuckle.

Ishida sighed. "Fine, I'll start going again. Will that make you happy?"

He grinned. "Yep."

Turning around, Ishida stood against the railing and stared over at the courtyard. "Kurosaki, I don't really understand...

Ichigo blinked, confused. "Understand what?"

"Why you care so much. If Sado-kun decided to give up music or Arisawa, Karate, would you go to such lengths to convince them to keeping doing it?" There were a few moments of silence before Ishida suddenly shook his head. "No, forget it. That's just the kind of person you are, right Kurosaki?"

"Ishida..."

"Anyway, I'm going back to the classroom. Lunch is almost over." he announced as he started to make his way over to the roof door.

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. Instead he watched silently as Ishida walked away from him. It was only when the bell rang a minute or so later that he realised that he too needed to return to class.

* * *

By the next day, Ishida was joining them for lunch again. Much like before he didn't said much but everyone seemed to be pleased – with the exception of Keigo who for one reason or another had never seemed to like him – to have him back.

"I'm glad that you managed to convince Ishida-kun to eat lunch with us again, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime said to him quietly as the lunch hour ended and everyone started returning to their own desks.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I am too."

It wasn't until the week after that that Ishida started attending the Handicrafts Club again. Ichigo wasn't sure what exactly possessed him to do so but one day after school he decided to follow Ishida there; without him knowing of course.

Glancing through the small window in the door he saw just about all the members gathered around the desk of the only male member there. With their attention drawn away, Ichigo opened the door slightly and peeked through.

"You have to make sure to knot it this way, otherwise the thread will start to loosen and eventually it'll just fall apart." Ichigo heard his friend say.

"Ah! So that's why it kept coming undone!"

"Ishida-sempai, you're so amazing!" he heard one girl declare.

From what he could tell, Ishida seemed to be giving some sort of demonstration.

"It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it." The dark haired boy replied, apparently oblivious to the adoration he was receiving from his fellow club members.

"Um, sempai, would you... could you show me how to do it again?" asked a small girl who Ichigo assumed was a first year.

"Of course."

As the young girl's face lit up, Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself. He made a mental note to tease Ishida about this at a later date.

Deciding that it was time for him to leave, he closed the door.

He was glad that Ishida was returning to his old self. Nonetheless, it still bothered him that Ishida was basing his entire future on something his father wanted. While he himself was fortunate that what he wanted to do would no doubt benefit his father, if his old man had told him he couldn't, he would punch him in the face without a moment's hesitation. Of course, considering that they got into physical fights pretty much every other day and his dad was constantly attacking him, it probably didn't count for much.

"Hey, Ichigo!" The orange haired boy looked up to see his childhood friend Tatsuki walking towards him. Considering she was wearing her karate gi he assumed she was in the middle of practice.

"Isn't it a little chilly to be training outside?"

"Are you kidding me? A little cold like this is nothing." Tatsuki scoffed. "But we are training inside. I just came out for some fresh air."

"I see."

"Anyway, what are you still doing here? You're not a member of any clubs."

"I actually came to check how Ishida was doing."

The girl blinked. "Ishida-kun? Why? Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh no, he's fine. I just wanted to make sure of something, that's all."

"Hmmm..."

Ichigo frowned. "'Hmmm...'What?"

"So that's how it is." she said blankly.

"Huh? How what is? What're you talking about?" Ichigo asked, his scowl deepening.

Snapping out of it, the dark haired girl gave a teasing smile. "Nothing at all! Nothing at all!"

"Hey you! Now tel-"

"Arisawa! Arisawa!"

Both teens turned around to see Tatsuki's instructor yelling for her outside the gymnasium.

"Break's over! Get back inside!"

"Ah! I'm coming!" she called back.

"Oi! Wait a-"

"Sorry Ichigo. Gotta get back else I'll have my ass handed to me!" she shouted as she ran back towards the building.

Ichigo groaned, wanting an explanation. Still, he wasn't going to wait around for Tatsuki to finish and so with an exasperated sigh he started to head home.

Unbeknownst to Ichigo he was being watched. Ishida stood there looking out the window as the orange haired boy started to walk away. He had sensed Kurosaki's presence outside the clubroom earlier but had decided to ignore it. He didn't know why Kurosaki had been there. It was almost as if he was checking up on him or something. And although he knew that if this was the case then he should be pissed him off, he couldn't help but smile somewhat.

"Ishida-sempai, are you alright?" one of the club members asked.

Making his expression neutral he turned back around. "Yes. I'm fine. Sorry."

"We're all so glad that you came back, sempai. We missed you when you were gone." said the tall dark haired girl that Ichigo had encountered before.

"You really are the best at sewing here!"

"Ah! I don't know what we'll do when you gradate next year!"

"Hey Ishida-san, any idea what you're going to do once you graduate?" asked one of the members who happened to be in the same year as him.

"Me? Well, I hope to go-" he stopped suddenly. "I'm going to go..." His eyes widened slightly. Wait. Why was he hesitating?

"You okay?" the girl asked looking somewhat concerned.

"Oh. Sorry, I'm fine." he said, plastering on a fake smile. "I'm not entirely sure yet."

"Well, you better figure it out soon. Times running out, you know."

"Ishida-sempai is the highest scoring student in the entire school. He'll be fine no matter what he does!" the brown haired girl from before defended.

The older girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

Ishida walked away and sat back down at his own desk. What the hell was wrong with him? What was with that hesitation? He clenched his fists. He knew what he wanted to do, God damnit.

"Ishida-sempai, do-"

"Sorry, I need to leave!" he said, standing up suddenly.

"Ishida-san?"

Without another word he quickly fled the clubroom leaving the rest of the members looking on after him, confused and bewildered.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Thank you very much for reading. This was unbeta'd so apologies for any spelling errors or grammatical mistakes.


End file.
